The M&S Q Busta

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Ah another day, another Q. M&S introduce a new feature when trying clothes on, you queue, they take your clothes from you and hang them on a rail while you wait for a cubicle, but then cant remember what is yours, what is to return or who is next. Meanwhile one of the women just keeps bashing a bell for more assistants to join the Malay.

In The Spirit of Mastermind

I've started so I'll finish

I’ve started so I’ll finish

A very nice weekend spent in the Lea Marston hotel, where all the staff actually speak English (gotta be a rarity). The food is fantastic, the service second to none and very nicely priced too.

A chance for Mrs Fogg to see the rellies and do some catching up.

For me, being obsessed with Mr Crappers invention (we have visited some rare gems around the world thanks to Mrs Caddies “Loos of The World” book), the one here should be on the list as the “Mastermind Chair”. This loo for some reason is bathed with an eerie glow and that’s before I spend a penny. You feel like a contestant in the spot light with 2 minutes left, all I can say is that I have started, so I’ll finish.

Some deep thinking from here.

How to Look Tall

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How to be fair to the munchkins in the family, put them all in a line and tilt the camera sideways, that way the hobbit folk look tall, shame about the hairy feets.

Brum Brum

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They talk real funny down here. We have come relly visiting to the black country (a little racist isn’t it). We should have left around 4pm yesterday, but as usual that work thing got in the way, so the eventual arrival time was gone 9pm, after some top tunage in Mrs Fogg’s banging motor (the dirty one cos she don’t clean it). This weekend sees us in quite a nice hotel (4 star, so it’s got an ensuite and loo rolls).

Decent meal in the restaurant (scallops with belly pork cooked to perfection and a lovely 10oz T-bone). It’s one o the few places I have been where your waiter wears gloves to bring your food (bit posh for this area init).

Next stop, the outlaws for the day, breakfast has been consumed so we is set for a couple of hours.

My Precious

Mr Fogg before the makeup is applied

Mr Fogg before the makeup is applied

Woo after weeks of toying over the best way to get there (most economical and comfortable), we now have our flights booked for the land of Hobbits.

London Heathrow to Auckland, a month of driving to Christchurch and then flying back Auckland and eventually to Heathrow.

My Tour Geek (Mrs Fogg) is in full planning mode with assistance from Frogman Caddie (after their whirl wind tour).

We are gonna try and get on as extras in the Hobbit as well, well Mrs Foggy does have hairy feet!!!

One place we will be visiting and publishing the picture from is the worlds longest place name:

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauo­tamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu trying saying that bad boy after Mrs Finks falling down water.

I Found the Key, I found the Secret

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So the saga of the push button start on the Kuga continues. Go back to our story from a few days ago when I was stranded at Tesco’s causing the mother of all jams.

On Sat I took the motor to the “helpful Ford dealer” (in quotes to indicate NOT), ah sir we might not be able to look straight away because you ain’t booked it in, well that’s because I wasn’t planning to break down was I. I left the motor for 4 hours and walked, and walked and walked. Back at Helpful Ford, oh we haven’t been able to plug a box in and analyse the fault and we can’t book it in next week either. Ok so do I need to plan to break down near the area (sarcasm wasted on customer services). Well I had to take the day off today to book it in. The previous conversation with Mr Helpful finished off with, what time does your service close on a Tuesday, 5pm sir, well can I book it in for 4.30pm, no sir the engineers go at 4.30pm (dumbfounded I pressed on), so can I book it in at 4pm, no sir they may not have enough time to look at I before they leave, ok how about 3.30pm, no sir you might need longer, WELL HOW ABOUT YOU GIVE ME A TIME SO I DONT HAVE TO KEEP GUESSING!!! Ah 3pm it is.

Car duly dropped at 2.30pm, and only after chasing 2 times did they look at it around 3.45pm to plug their box in and 10 minutes later tell me there was no fault registered. Can I suggest you bring it to us or get it towed here as soon as it happens next time. OH REALLY, like I did on Saturday!!!!

The real kick in the ass, a bloody second hand muppet car salesman showed us a secret compartment that you can place the magic key that will allow you to start the car if the key fob malfunctions. So I would like to say a big thanks to the AA for not knowing about this magic, the unhelpful Stoneacre Ford Service for wasting my Saturday and again today and lastly to the smug salesman who pointed out this gem.

I now got a KEY and I now know the SECRET!

Hobbit heaven

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So Mr Fogg and I have finally decided to bite the bullet and go visit New Zealand for a month in January.

Forget buying houses and all that domesticated stuff, we NEED to travel again and we need to go stay in the Hobbit Motel New Zealand. Yes, there is actually a real Hobbit motel underground and complete with round windows and doors.

I’m in the middle (or is that muddle?) of planning the trip since we will need to book all accomodation in advance due to the tourist season timing, but hey, this is the fun bit.

Mr Caddie is currently engaged as expert tour operator so we can get a heads up on all the key sites.

Now despite our usual extravagant several holidays a year this one will wipe out all our holiday in one hit so, just to warn you we are planning on couch surfing for the rest of the year.

Check your couches- we may be planning a sit in over weekends!!

[Posted from Mrs Foggs super cool iphone]

L O L O A Q I C

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What a long week that was, topped off with causing one of the longest traffic jams that Tesco have seen in a long time.

On the way home tonight I filled up, went back to the car and blow me but the bugger wouldn’t start. All the super duper tech in cars today, including the Ford Push start has one major flaw, what happens when the car doesn’t recognise your key fob? Yup exactly what happened. No matter what I tried the car wouldn’t start since it no longer recognised the electronic keyfob.

So you can’t get the car to start and you can’t even take the steering lock off since that is electronic also and needs to sense the key. After 20 mins, there was a rather large queue forming. The nice AA man turned up and guess what, they have no way of starting the car either.

Let’s recap, the car won’t see the key fob so won’t start, you can’t remove the steering lock because it’s electronic, you can’t lock the car and Mrs Fogg is on a night out miles away, what do you do?

Simply watch rather irate drivers piling up behind you, ho hum.

Tis the weekend

Starry Eyes

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It’s just after 11pm on Tuesday 30th August and we are looking out of the bedroom window into an amazing carpet of stars. I have never seen so many suspended in blackness. shimmering out of reach and somehow connected back to us.

In the words of Paul Whitehouse, isn’t the sky amazing? All this galaxies and clusters of stars, dying planets and us here on a teeny planet that forms part of this glowing mass.

I could sit for hours and stargaze in the hope to see another shooting star, an alien craft or simply the birth of a new star.

What an amazing universe we live in

[Posted from Mrs Foggs super cool iphone]

Daylight Robbery

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Well we went to them there flicks today, the first time since January and given the cost we won’t be going for another 6 months.

Two people, one film, one coffee, one tea, two bags of maltesers, £30 what a con and to top it all, in an empty cinema you have assigned seating that they keep coming in to check that you haven’t moved. What a super experience, one to be repeated, not!! at least Dick Turpin wore a mask.

The film however, brilliant, Cowboys & Aliens with Daniel Craig.

So when we win the lottery we are off to the pictures again.